'A fantastic athlete'

Ola AinaImage source, Getty Images
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Steve Cooper expects the versatility of new signing Ola Aina to prove an asset for Nottingham Forest this season.

The 26-year-old full-back joined from Torino last week, having already gathered Premier League experience in recent years during a loan spell at Fulham in 2020-21.

Aina, who represented England at youth level but is a full international for Nigeria, did not feature in Thursday's 2-0 friendly loss to Leeds United.

"Tonight was too soon," Cooper told BBC Radio Nottingham. "He’s only trained for two sessions so it would have been a risk to stick him straight into a game.

"He will play a part against PSV (Sunday). He has Premier League experience, Serie A experience, came through at Chelsea. He’s versatile, he can play on the right and left, a fantastic athlete. He’s settled right in. He’s looking good in training and we’re looking forward to getting him involved in games."

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